Artificial silk manufacture



May 21, 1935.

B. GORDON, JR., ET AL ARTIFICIAL SILK MANUFACTURE Filed Sept. 10, 1931 5 BY M ATTORNEY Sheets-Sheet .1

INVENTORS y 1935.- B. GORDON, JR... El AL 2,002,481

ARTIFICIAL SILK MANUFACTURE Filed Sept. 10, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z7 Z Hwwla! INVE TOR g f BY/ Ldm-roRNEm' 001 114, Mm

May 21, 1935. B. GORDON, JR, El AL ARTIFICIAL SILK MANUFACTURE Filed Sept 10, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS BY tlua ATTORNEYS May 21, 1935.

a. GORDON, JR.. i-rr AL ARTIFICIAL SILK MANUFACTURE Filed Sept. 10, 1931 5 Shets-$heet 4 INVENTORS BY t/lw} ATTORNEYS I 601 a, /&w *Mm May 21, 1935.

B. GORDON, JR.,- Er AL 2,002,481

ARTIFICIAL SILK MANUFACTURE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Spt. 10, 1931 IN NTORS BY ATTQR'NEYQ W/M MM Patented May 21, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Beirne Gordon, Jr. and Harold J. V. Michel, Utica, N. Y., assignors to Skenandoa Rayon Corporation, Utica, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application September 10, 1931, Serial No. 562,022

7 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of artificial silk and particularly to ,a novel and highly successful process therefor.

An object of the invention is to provide a nove process for the manufacture of artificial silk, by means of which the waste which occurs in a large industrial plant is substantially reduced, and in some cases almost eliminated. Another object of the invention is to provide a process whereby degradation, injury and breakage of the yarn are greatly reduced, particularly in the case of manufacture on a large commercial scale, and whereby the grade and quality of the yarn is improved, and the percentage of first quality yarn increased.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description, and from the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section through an artificial silk yarn cake, partially enclosed in a tubular fabric sleeve as will be later explained in greater detail;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the same cake placed in a perforated treating container;

Fig. 3 is in part a vertical section and in part an elevation of a portion of one suitable form of movable carriage and other apparatus for applying treating fluid or fluids to a plurality of treating containers with their contained cakes;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through one form of hydro-extracting assembly including the same treating container and other apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through a yarn cake and associated apparatus as arranged in a suitable manner for unwinding the yarn from the cake into a desired package such as a cone or bobbin.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section through a different form of perforated yarn cake treating container suitable for use in carrying out the present process, the container being shown together with its contained cake;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing an arrangement including the cake treating containers shown in Fig. 6;

Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 1'7 and 18 show details of different forms of apparatus and assemblies which are suitable for use in performing the process, and

Figs. 13 and 14 are respectively a plan view of, and a vertical section through, a different form of hydro-extracting assembly, all as will be explained in greater detail hereafter.

As already stated, a feature of the present invention comprises a novel process for the manuelastic fabric 2, preferably having the form of a facture of artificial silk. The steps of the process may be conveniently described in connection with the foregoing figures of drawing. Of course,

, in a large commercial installation, the process is performed simultaneously on a great number 5 of cakes, or is carried out as a continuous process, but for clearness of description we will follow through the process on a single cake, with the understanding that one of its principal applications is to large quantity production.

First, an artificial silk'yarn cake is spun in the usual and well understood manner in a spinning bucket, according to the usual rotating spinning pot or bucket' spinning centrifugal method. Referring to Fig. 1, reference character I indicates such a spun yarn cake. After spinning is completed, the cake is removed from the spinning bucket and placed upside-down as indicated in Fig. 1, upon a suitable table or support, and an 20 tubular fabric sleeve or cylinder, and having suitable porosity and elasticity, is inserted through the yarn cake. The ends of the fabric sleeve are brought out over the ends of the cake and turned down on the outside so as firmly to engage and hold the cake and its component fibres, and prevent, by virtue of the elastic or retaining action of the fabric, any disturbance or derangement of the yarn fibres, and also so as to present a smooth but elastic and permeable protective fabric surface or covering on the in-' side, ends and outside of the cake. The fabric sleeve 2 may be arranged as indicated in Fig. 1

so that its ends do not overlap on the outside of the cake, but in most cases it has been found preferable to make the fabric sleeve long enough so that its ends overlap and completely enclose the yarn cake, as indicated more particularly in Fig. 9.

A preferred manner of applying the elastic fabric sleeve to the yarn cake in the latter case, when its ends overlap, as will be clear from Fig. 9, includes placing the cake on a support or table so that the smaller diameter of the cake is at the bottom, resting on the support, then stretching the fabric sleeve so that it is larger than the outside of the cake, and lowering it down over the outside of the cake, extending almost to the bottom. The upper part of the fabric is then passed through the hole in the cake and pulled evenly and tightly over the inner surface, and its other end stretched and passed around over the other end of the cake and down on the outside, so as to overlap the first end of the fabric, all as clearly indicated in Fig. 9.

After the fabric is thus applied to the yarn cake, whether it wholly encases the cake as shown in Fig. 9, or only partially so as indicated in Fig. 1, the cake with its applied fabric is inverted and placed in or upon a suitable support for treatment with desired fluids. Such a support may be arranged to engage the cake either internally or externally, or at the ends, but the best practice which we now know is to employ a perforated treating container for the purpose. One suitable form of such a container is shown at 3 in Fig. 2.

The container itself is, in that form, made of metal 4, for example steel, covered with rubber 5 as-indicated, so as to protect it from corrosive fluids. An outwardly extending flange 6 at the top of the container, is provided with a semicircular annular depression or groove 1 as shown, adapted to receive a rubber washer 3. At the bottom the container is provided with a fiat horizontally extending flange 9, of such size and shape that when a number of containers are nested one on top of the other, as shown in Fig. 3, the bottom flange 9 of the upper container seats within the top flange 6 of the next container below, and makes a tight joint by compressing the rubber washer 8 until the bottom of the upper container seats on the flat shoulder ll) near the top of the container below, the flange 5 fitting within the outwardly extending flange 6. The containers may be suitably perforated as indicated at H, and they are also provided with an aperture l2 through the bottom, to permit the ingress and egress of treating fluids or liquids. In some cases it may be desirable to provide an annular washer 13 in the bottom of each container, so as to raisevthe contained cake 1, with its encasing fabric 2, above the flat shoulder Ill,

- so that the cake will be compressed by the superposition and clamping of the containers as shown in Fig. 3, thus forming a liquid tight joint at the top and bottom of the yarn cake, and also compensating for possible shrinkage of the cake due to removal of the salts during processing, but itis preferable so to proportion the height of the container that the desired compression is produced.

The next step is indicated in Fig. 3, wherein a plurality of cake treating containers are shown stacked one above the other ready for the application of treating liquid to the cakes. This is conveniently done by applying the containers to a movable carriage, a portion of which is indicated in section at M in Fig. 3. The carriage I4 is provided with a liquid distributing manifold l5 and branch manifolds l6 which serve to distribute the liquid to the interiors of the treating containers 3, and also permit the withdrawal of unused liquid when the treating is flnished. An inlet pipe I1 is connected to the distributing manifold l5 so as to supply treating liquid to the distributing manifold l5 of the carriage l4. The manifold, I5, inlet pipe IT, and treating containers 3 may all be suitably supported on wheels l8, running on rails 19 so that the carriage can be moved from station to statiomat each station being connected to a supply of a desired treating liquid for the yarn cakes, all as described and claimed in United States Patent No. 1,973,953, issued September. 18, 1934. A suitable clamping arrangement 20 may be provided for clamping the treating containers tightly onto the carriage I4 and forcing them together so as to compress the contained cakes and produce a liquid tight joint.

By the foregoing or other suitable arrangement, desired processing liquids, or fluidsincluding air or steam if desired, are applied to the cakes in a proper succession. A suitable sequence of treating liquids may include, for example, water for washing the cakes, suitable desulphuring liquids or solutions, more water for washing, bleaching liquids or solutions, water for washing again, and, finally, if desired, a soaping or a dyeing solution. For this purpose one suitable sequence of treating liquids is described in United States Patent No. 1,973,953 referred to above.

Usually it is next desirable to dry the yarn cake and for this purpose a suitable form of apparatus is illustrated in Fig. 4. In that arrangement the treating container 3 is removed from the carriage l4 and applied to an adapter 2|. A cover 22 may be applied to thetop of the container, to which it is clamped by the nut 23 threaded onto the spindle 24 forming part of the adapter 2|.

Suitable slots 25 may be provided in the outer periphery of the cover 22, to permit the escape of liquid. The adapter 2| is then applied to the spindle 26, of an electric motor or other suitable apparatus, and the entire assembly is rapidly rotated so as tb dry the contained yarn cake by centrifugal action or "hydro-extraction as it is sometimes called.

After the hydro-extraction is completed, the cake may be removed from the container in which the foregoing operations have been carried out, and while still enclosed and protected by the fabric sleeve, may be dried in a tunnel drier, as by means of heated air circulated about the cake, or otherwise as desired.

After the yarn cake has been dried it is placed upon a suitable supporting collar, of which one form is shown at 21 in Fig. 5. This may be done either by coiling up the collar and inserting it through the aperture within the cake and its enclosing fabric, which is still in place where it has acted to protect the cake throughout the foregoing operations, or by lowering the cake over the collar. As indicated at 21in Fig. 5, the supporting collar may be slightly tapered so as to conform to the inside of the cake, and may suitably consist of a. blank of celluloid or pyralin which is rolled up so as to fit within the cake. Such a blank, before it has been rolled up for use as a supporting collar, is shown in Fig. 8. In Figs. 9 and 10 it is shown after it has been rolled up and inserted in the cake.

A different, and in some cases a preferred, form of supporting collar is shown in Figs. 16 and 17, in which the collar is formed from a sheet aluminum blank, Fig. 17. This blank is rolled into a cylinder as shown in Fig. 16, and is then used as a supporting collar for the cake. The taper of the interior walls of the cake is ordinarily so slight that the flt is close at the top, and not too loose at the bottom, as indicated in Fig. 16, the amount of the taper of both the interior and exterior walls of the yarn cake having been slightly exaggerated in order to make it apparent.

Whatever form of supporting collar is inserted within the cake, the fabric sleeve 2 is next turned back onto the collar as shown in Figs. 5 and 16, both ends of the sleeve being folded back so as to expose the yarn cake. The loose end 28 of the yarn is led out from the cake and to a suitable winding machine for winding the yarn from the cake to a cone, onto a bobbin or spool, into a skein, or whatever other form is desired for sale or fabrication.

In some cases it is desirable and important to employ a winding guard during this unwinding operation. Such a guard is shown at 29 in Fig.

5, and also in detail in Figs. and 16. A different form of winding guard is shown in Fig.

18. The winding guard 29 consists of a flat disk or annulus 30, having a smoothly rounded outer periphery, and provided with a plurality of prongs 3| adapted to project downwardly inside the collar, 21., to hold the guard in place, and also to engage the fabric,.and hold it in its turned back position inside the collar and away from the yarn. The prongs 3| are suitably curved as in Figs. 5, 15 and 16, or set at an angle as indicated in Fig. 18, for ready insertion into the collar. A principal purpose of such a winding guard, when it is employed, is to keep the yarn strand 28 from coming in contact with the fabric 2 while the yarn is being unwound from the cake, since such contact of the yarn with the fabric is almost certain to break the delicate yarn. If such breakage of the yarn occurs during unwinding from the cake, the operation must be stopped, the broken end of the yarn picked up by the operative, and threaded and tied with a. resulting waste of material and loss of time. Also the presence of excessive knots in the yarn lowers its value. It is to prevent this breakage, waste, degradation of the yarn, and loss of time that it is important to prevent the yarn from coming in contact with the cloth sleeve during unwinding, and that is what is accomplished by the use of a winding guard such as has been described.

It will be seen that by the foregoing method all of the steps of the manufacture of the silk, from the time the yarn is first spun into a cake to the time when it is wound off from the cake,

into a, desired package for sale or use, are performed on the yarn while it is in cake form and while the cake is covered and protected by the fabric which surrounds and engages and retains it, and prevents distortion of the cake and keeps the yarn strands in undisturbed condition, protecting them from injury. By this protection of the yarn cake during the described stepsof treatment, loss of time, waste and degradation are greatly reduced. It has been found that much of the waste in rayon manufacture occurs in unwinding the yarn from the cake, when most of .the yarnis gone and only a relatively few turns remain in the cake. These turns areapt to become tangled or broken, especially if the collar is allowed to expand and put tension on them. According to the present invention that is greatly reduced or avoided, because when the fabric -2 is turned back as shown in Fig. 5, during the unwinding, the tendency of the collar 21 to expand or explode so as to break or tangle the last few turns of yarn, is overcome, with resulting reduction of waste.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view through a different form of perforated yarn treating container which is suitable for use in practicing the foregoing method, instead of the container shown at 3 in Fig. 2. This form of container may suitably be molded from a phenolic condensation product such as Bakelite or Micarta, and consists of an upstanding wall portion 32 which may be tapered interiorly to conform to the outside taper of a freshly spun yarn cake. The perforations are indicated at 33. The container is also.

provided with a peripheral flange or apron 34 extending downwardly and outwardly from and below the bottom of the container, the bottom being indicated at 35, and having an aperture 36 therethrough, for ingress and egress of treating fluid. v

The container is preferably so proportioned that the interior diameter of the recess formed by the downwardly extending flange 34, is substantially the same as, or a little greater than, the external diameter of the top of the perforated wall 32, the inner face of the former and outer face of the latter both being tapered outwardly and downwardly in substantially the same amount, or the flange 34 being slightly more tapered, so that each container may be readily nested with other similar containers, one above the other. When so nested, the bottom of each container forms a cover for the container below, and the inner face of the bottom flange 34 of each container engages the outer face of the top of the wall 32 of the container below. The interior depth of each container is preferably so proportioned that a freshly spun yarncake, when enclosed in its fabric covering, will extend slightly above the top of the wall 32, as shown in Fig. 6. Then when a plurality of containers, with their'contained cakes are nested one above the other as shown in Fig. '7, each cake is slightly compressed and a liquid tight joint is formed at the junction of the containers, so that treating liquid admitted through the apertures 36 is forced to pass outwardly through the cakes themselves and escape by way of the perforations 33, and does not escape at the joints or pass aroundthe cakes.

Fig. '7 is a view partly in vertical section and partly in elevation of a movable carriage and liquid distributing manifold, similar to that shown in Fig. 3, except that the Fig. 6 form of cake treating container is shown nested on the carriage in Fig. '7, substituted for the form of container shown at 3 in Figs. 2 and 3.

As already indicated, one suitable form of supporting collar is shown at 21. Fig. 8 shows a blank of a suitable flexible material such as pyralin or the like, adapted for use as a collar. This blank is rolled up, and then as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, is inserted within the cake which is enclosed in its fabric wrapping. Fig. 9 is, a sectional view and Fig. 10 a top plan view of wrapped cake, after it has been placed in position on the supporting collar 21. The collar, being formed from a flat blank, is expansible and flexible and thus tends to expand and engage the cake interiorly and hold it in position. The blank being curved, as shown in Fig; 8, the collar formed by rolling it up assumes the form of a truncated cone, and holds the wrapped cake above and free of the table or support upon which the collar is placed, as indicated. When the fabric 2 is turned back onto the collar 21, while the yarn is being unwound from the cake, the fabric being tubular in form engages the collar 21 and tends to prevent it from exploding and breaking the last few turns of yarn which remain during the winding operation, which would otherwise occur with consequent waste of yarn.

In Figs. 11 and 12 is shown a different arrangement of the supporting collar 21 and fabric 2. In this case the fabric is applied directly to the blank 21 in the form of a close fitting tube of the right size, slipped over the blank and stitched across the ends, as indicated at 2a, to hold the blank in position. The ends of the fabric may then be cut off close to the stitches, so as to give a smooth end which will not break the thread. After stitching at the ends of the fabric, it may, if preferred, be turned inside out before it is slipped over thecollar blank, thereby avoiding the presence of roughness which might break the yarn. The collar with its enclosing cake as shown in Fig. 12. This arrangement may be used in some circumstances, but is ordinarily not as desirable as the other method described above, because, in this case there is nothing to prevent the collar from exploding and breaking the last few turns of yarn remaining in the cake as it is. unwound.

In general the fabric that is employed, especially when it is in the form of a tubular sleeve inserted through the cake and folded over the outside as indicated more particularly in Figs. 1 and 9, may be either a knitted fabric or a woven one, but is preferably elastic, or else made so as to conform to the shape of the cake, and hold it. Knitted tubular elastic fabrics are generally preferred.

Figs. 13 and 14 are respectively a plan and a sectional view of a suitable hydro-extracting pot, which may be used instead of the arrangement shown in Fig. 4. In this case the hydro-extracting container 31 is similar to an ordinary spinning pot and is provided with perforations 38. It should be nicely balanced dynamically so as not to cause whipping. A cover 39 may be provided, and there may also be a groove 40 near the top of the interior of-the pot, adapted to receive a spring clip 4| for engaging and holding the cover 39 in place. Additional perforations 42 may also be provided in the groove 40, for drainage of the liquid. If the hydro-extracting pot is molded from Micarta or the like, it may be provided with an integral bushing 43. A sleeve 44 is then provided and arranged to fit tightly on the driven spindle 26. The pot may be rotated by frictional engagement between the inside of bushing 43 and bottom of pot 31, and the sleeve 44 mounted on the spindle. This produces a slipping engagement between the pot 31 and driven spindle 26, so that the load of the pot is taken up slowly and less danger arises from the rapid rotation of the pot.

Figs. 15 and 16 show a suitable form of winding guard for insertion within the collar, and Fig. 18 shows a different form which may also be used.

Fig. 1'7 shows an aluminum supporting collar, inblank form, and the lower portion of Fig. 16 illustrates the use of this aluminum collar rolled up into a support for the cake, in conjunction with the cake l,'the fabric cover 2, and the winding guard 80. When these elements are assembled the cake may be unwound in a similar manner to that indicated in Fig. 5. An advantage of the aluminum supporting collar over a pyralin one is that the aluminum, while properly supporting the cake, is less likely to expand and break the last few turns-of yarn, with consequent waste.

The present invention is directed to the novel process and combination of steps described above. and it is to be understood that the drawings illustrate only specific forms of apparatus which have been found suitable, and are at present preferred, for carrying .out the method described herein, but that the method may be practiced in other and different forms of apparatus without departing from the invention.

We claim:

1. Method of manufacturing artificial silk which comprises the steps of spinning a yarn cake in the usual manner, removing the spun cake from the spinning bucket and applying a fabric thereto without distorting the cake, subfabric is then rolled up and inserted inside the jecting the cake while thus covered by the fabric and in its undistorted form to the action of desired treating fluids, inserting a collar within the fabric and cake to support the cake, turning the fabric back onto the collar to expose the cake while leaving it supported by the col- I lar, and unwinding the yarn from the cake.

2. Method as defined in claim 1, wherein the ends of the fabric overlap so as completely to enfold and encase the yarn cake while it is subjected to the treating fluid.

3. Method as defined in claim 1, wherein the cake is subjected to centrifugal drying while still covered by the fabric.

4. Method 'of manufacturing artificial silk which comprises the steps of spinning a yarn cake in the usual manner, removing the spun cake from the spinningbucket and applying an elastic fabric covering thereto without distorting the cake, subjecting the cake while thus covered by the fabric and in its undistorted form to the action of desired treating fluids, drying the cake while still covered by the fabric, inserting a collar within the fabric and cake to support the cake, turning the fabric back onto the collar to expose the cake while leaving the cake supported by the collar, and unwinding the yarn from the cake.

5. Method of manufacturing artificial silk which comprises the steps of spinning an artificial silk yarn cake in the usual manner, removing the spun cake from the spinning bucket and applying an elastic fabric covering thereto without distorting the cake, subjecting the cake while thuscovered by the fabric and in its undistorted form to the action of desired treating fluids, inserting a collar within the fabric and cake to support the cake, turning the fabric back onto the collar to expose the cake, inserting a winding guard in the collar to prevent the moving yarn strand from coming in contact with the fabric, and unwinding the yarn from the cake.

.6. Method of manufacturing artificial silk which comprises the steps of spinning an artificial silk yarn cake in the usual manner, removing the spun cake from the spinning bucket and applying thereto an elastic tubular fabric sleeve to'cover and engage the cake and prevent distortion thereof and retain the yarn strands in undisturbed condition and protect them from injury, subjecting the yarn cake while thus retained and protected by the fabric and in its undistorted form to the action of desired treating fluids, inserting a supporting collar within the fabric and its contained cake to support the cake, turning the ends of. the fabric sleeve back into the supporting collar to expose the yarn, and unwinding the yarn from the exposed cake.

7. Method of manufacturing artificial silk which comprises the steps of spinning a cake of artificial silk yarn by the centrifugal bucket spinning method; removing the spun yarn cake from the spinning bucket; maintaining the cake in its original form and shape and in undistorted condition, and applying to the cake, while in that condition, a tubular, elastic, fabric sleeve disposed substantially co-axially with the cake, and passing through the center and over the ends thereof, to cover and engage the cake and maintain the same undistorted and in its original shape; subjecting the yarn cake, while thus engaged and protected by the fabric sleeve, and in its original and undistorted shape, to the action of a succession of desired treating liquids forced through the cake under pressure from the inside thereof outwardly, whereby substantially the entire treatment and purification of the yarn is performed upon the yarn cake in its orignal form and shape, and without any substantial distortion thereof, and while the cake is engaged and supported by the said fabric sleeve; then inserting a supporting collar within the fabric and its contained cake to support the cake for unwinding; turning back the ends of the fabric sleeve to expose the yarn; and unwinding the yarn from the exposed cake into a desired yarn package.

BEIRNE GORDON, JR. HAROLD J. v. MICHEL. 

